Martech and ad tech: Challenges and opportunities

What's ahead for ad tech in the larger martech environment? Columnist Jim Yu lays out the difficulties, as well as the potential rewards.

The industry is abuzz with discussion about the unification of ad tech data with data from other marketing technologies.

For some, a potential merger means finding ways to use data from martech to power ad tech. Others see massive differences between the two types of technologies and predict synergy by way of hybrid solutions that combine elements of each within a single piece of software.

Private equity and venture capitalist database Pitchbook is now tracking solutions like this as a standalone industry segment, one in which US VCs invested $290 million last year.

[Editor’s note: On MarTech Today, we see ad tech as a subset of martech, as advertising is a part of a brand’s overall marketing activities. For the purposes of this column, the author’s references to “martech” should be understood to refer to non-ad tech martech.]

In this column, we’ll have a look at the relationship between martech and ad tech and look at some of the synergies between the two, identifying the greatest opportunities for connecting ad tech with martech to engage consumers going forward.

About The Author

Jim Yu is the founder and CEO of BrightEdge, the leading enterprise content performance and SEO Platform. He combines in-depth expertise in developing and marketing large on-demand software platforms with hands-on experience in advanced digital, content and SEO practices